The Rules

Like any RPG site, Hoof Prince too has rules in order to help our game run smoothly! We promise there's not too many and we try to keep everything short, concise, and to the point! If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact our staff!

General

Respect is a must. Anyone being viewed as disrespectful towards players or staff will be asked to leave. Depending upon the severity of the offense, you may receive a warning or be banned if you break the rules.

You must join and be accepted by The Oracle before posting anywhere in-character on the site.

Please don't let Out of Character issues affect your In Character interaction. If you have a problem with another member, please talk to a staff member or owner.

No power playing. Do your best to not tell another player what their character is doing or saying. Little things are unavoidable just due to the nature of interaction; but no killing, maiming, crippling, making them do the salsa, etc. without permission.

One game year = 4 months

You may not use duplicate names here. Please check the database before joining your character. Remember to select "All" when searching otherwise you will just search the active characters. Similar spellings (Mari vs. Mary) are, however, allowed.

We now have active or inactive signifiers for database entry. You are free to switch your characters back and forth between active or inactive, but please keep in mind that you will lose any position that character has earned if they are switched from active to inactive. If your character is stolen or is made a prisoner you may not put this character inactive until their time as a prisoner is up. That is, they may be posted to finish out their prison sentence and then put on inactive but this may not be used as a way to get out of time spent as a prisoner.

Tokens

Tokens help your character achieve new levels to their elements or new traits if they are a nonbeliever. You can earn tokens both In Character(IC) and Out Of Character(OOC). While Out of Character tokens may to transferred to other characters, they may not be transferred back to the original character they were transferred from. In character tokens may not be transferred under any circumstances. Here are some ways that you can earn tokens and their classifications:

Joining (IC) - 5 Tokens will be give to all characters, bonus tokens will be given for needed characters.

Birth (IC) - 5 Tokens will be given to the child on birth. Tokens are not given to the parents of the child.

War/Debate War (IC) - Dependent upon the number of rounds you pass. The win-lose ratio is: 2-1, 5-2, 8-3, 12-4, 18-5 and so on.

Character of the Month (IC) - 10 points are awarded to the character of the month unless otherwise stated.

Faction Contract (IC) - Up to thirty tokens may be given to your character by another in exchange for your participation in their faction.

Events (IC) - Vary

God/Oracle Handouts (IC) - Vary

Post Count (OOC) - Go to the post count board to learn more about earning tokens through the post count.

Word of the Day (OOC) - Earn two tokens once a day for using the word of the day in a post.

Advertising (OOC) - You can earn 1 token for every 5 ads up to 100 ads/20 tokens per month.

Referrals (OOC) - A player earns 5 tokens for every player they recruit if the new player joins and posts twice.

Monthlies (OOC) - 5 points are awarded to the player of the month and 10 points for the thread of the month unless otherwise stated.

Staff Handouts (OOC) - Vary

Your Birthday (OOC) - Earn tokens for your birthday, however, you must submit an update so that your birthday can be added to the staff list.

Any time you earn tokens you must submit an update to add them to your token counter. When submitting an update through the form including the character the tokens go to, what they were awarded for, and a link to where you were given the tokens. When submitting an update for WOTD, you must instead include a link to the post where you used the word.

You must also submit an update through the form when you gain a new level. At that time, the staff will verify that you leveled up and update the database. The database must be current before your character can be awarded a new element.

Please keep in mind that when an update is submitted for a new level, the tokens necessary (ex: 100 tokens for Level IV) become condensed into a single entry and cannot be split back up. If you are planning on using tokens for Faction Contracts, please leave an amount of tokens as individual entries.

Token transfers are allowed between characters belonging to two different players, but not between characters belonging to the same player. At this time only OOC tokens may be transferred and only in order to perform Faction Contracts.

Once having reached Level IV, to receive a random element, post to the Oracle. You can also receive a specific element by petitioning the guardian of that element in the Crossing. Regardless of which route you choose, you must be level IV or above in your current element before you can receive a new element.

Appearances

Any horse breed is allowed, but the height and color must be acceptable to the breed standard of your character. If you have any questions, please talk to Staff.

We are not currently accepting traited characters upon joining. Defects such as blindness, deafness, etc. are allowed. Traits can be earned by completing Events. More information about such events can be found on the Magic page.

Kingdoms

The dominant faction run the kingdom, with their leaders becoming the King/Queens.

One player cannot play more than one character that rules a kingdom.

Ruling positions can be challenged for after having the position for 1 month (4 weeks after taking throne). In order to be eligible to challenge for a throne this character must be active (at least one post a week) for two weeks in that kingdom.

If a kingdom is voting on a leader, the player must have been an active member of the site for at least two weeks and have posted at least once before the official vote is made to be eligible for kingdom leadership.

If a guardian of a temple lives in your kingdom, your kingdom will receive the favor of that god. If more than one guardian lives in your kingdom, the kingdom leader must decide whose favor their kingdom will receive. A god's favor may offer your kingdom the following various perks:

God

Favor

Altus

Gives you +2 points in your attack score in the Ridges or in a Raid

Aprillia

Characters with only one element and under level 3 have to earn 5 less tokens to level

Brighton

Recruiter gains +2 tokens if horse is recruited from the vistas and stays in the kingdom for at least two weeks.

Courant

Steals posted by this kingdom will only have to be up for two days instead of three before the steal is revealed.

Elyria

Choose gender and color of foal stats. (Color is chosen from a list of parental combinations provided by staff.)

Galadriel

Gives +2 points in defense score in Ridges or in a Raid.

Paduan

If your kingdom gets raided, all attackers automatically get -2 points off of their final score.

Tazewell

+5 extra tokens from sparring for winners or losers. If the wager is 5 tokens or less, the loser will not actually lose tokens.

Rencor

This kingdom will get one extra guess on steals.

**To avoid any confusion, please specify in the post when you are invoking any of these perks**

Factions

Factions are groups fighting among themselves to achieve more influence in their kingdom and thus staying one jump ahead of the others. It takes at minimum, three characters played by three separate players to create a faction.

Those creating a faction are welcome to name it themselves, however be aware that the names are subject to staff review and rejection if they are found to be inappropriate.

Factions are allowed to govern themselves how they see fit (ex: Mares only, Nonbelievers only, etc), but may have no more than 4 total leaders.

Once you have a faction name, three members and an idea of how the faction will be run, submit a Kingdom update with this information.

Faction members may "buy" the membership of newcomers using their tokens rate of 10 tokens per month (for up to three months membership total)

Faction membership is on a buyer-beware basis, so if that newcomer ducks out in the middle of their contract, there are no refunds.

If a faction is too similar to another, the newer of the two will be asked to seek membership with the already existing faction.

Any faction that has had less than three members post in 2 months, will be disbanded.

Champions

Champions are a defensive benefit belonging to the ruling faction. Faction leaders may use their Champions to take their place in challenges addressed to them.

If a Champion takes the place of a faction leader within a battle and the Champion loses, the faction leader may send a Champion in their place. This only applies if a champion fought in the place of a faction leader and does not apply to steals.

Only two Champions are allowed, no matter the number of faction leaders. For this reason, it is necessary to make wise choices in who these Champions will be.

Breeding

Both parties must be over the age of 3 to breed. There will be no inbreeding or line breeding to any blood relative.

The foal form must be completely and properly filled out or a stillborn foal will be granted by Staff.

Foal stats are posted in the breeding thread by a staff member. They are decided at random based on the parent's stats. Foals are born one week real time from the day they are conceived. Any foals born early will be stillborn.

Traits and defects are given randomly. (12345)=NOTHING (6)=TRAIT OR DEFECT. If a 6 is rolled the die would be rolled twice more, once to determine whether a trait or defect is given and a second time to determine the specific trait/defect that will be given out. (123)=TRAIT (456)=DEFECT.

Breeding can occur at any time, though the odds of survival will be figured into the breeding. These will be decided by dice roll as follows: Foals born in the WINTER=(123) live, (456) die. SPRING=(12345) live, (6) die. SUMMER=(12345) live, (6) die. FALL=(12345) live, (6) die.

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Mares may only breed once every three months, real time. A mare may breed again immediately if a stillborn is rolled however.

Before the player of the foal is able to breed again, the foal must be/have been actively played for at least three months, real time. You may, however, quit the foal if you end up changing your mind and breed again after the three months. Please note that quitting includes deleting the character from the database. Breeding before these three months pass will result in a stillborn.

A foal is dependent on its dam for the first year of its life and will stay with her during this year. You may join as an orphan foal, but these foals must be adopted by a foster mare. The foster mare must be producing milk (due to a pregnancy, stillbirth or having had a foal of her own recently) otherwise the foal will die.

Stealing

A thief may only steal one individual at a time. The exception being a mare and her dependent foal. Dependent foals cannot be stolen individually.

Kingdom leaders may be stolen. Keep in mind that you must include the three clues as the character you're trying to steal and clues to them as the kingdom leader.

All members of kingdoms can write steals or post blocks, but keep in mind there are only 2 blocks per herd or kingdom per steal.

You may be as creative as you'd like, but steals must be in English and cannot include codes.

Every steal must include at least: 2 total clues to the leaders you're trying to steal from, their kingdom, and 3 clues referencing the name of the character you are trying to steal (at least two of which must be references to their full name) as well as clues about your own kingdom and leaders. Your character's name must be posted in the "name" field unless you provide additional clues pointing to your own character.

If your steal is not found in three days, you must reveal the answer to your steal. If the steal is not revealed within 6 days following the initial post of the steal, unless the player is away or other special circumstances approved by admin, the steal will be deemed invalid. Staff will determine if you are successful.

If a guess has been made on a steal, the thief must post stating if the block correct or incorrect. If you fail to respond to a block and are seen ANYWHERE else on the site the steal will be invalid. If you need to go on away before the deadline, email the steal's answer to an admin so they can answer guesses.

When a horse is stolen, the stolen horse must stay in the thieving kingdom or herd for two real life weeks before they can be challenged for, wager their freedom in a spar, or counter-stolen. In addition they must be active in that kingdom posting at least once a week for the two real life week. If you fail to do this, your character will be ineligible for challenges or steals.

The horse doing the stealing must also be active during the stay of their prisoner following the judgment of their post. Failure to post once a week during this period will result in the prisoner going free.

Steal decisions are final.

Challenging

All challenges, spar, and their results will be posted on The Ridges.

Battles may be a debate, role played or left to a dice roll provided both parties agree. If players cannot reach an agreement, staff will provide terms for you or the fight will be thrown out.

When a Spirit/Guardian is challenged, the Spirit/Guardian picks whether the battle will be a debate or physical battle. Non-elemental battles are prohibited in the cases of Guardian or Spirit challenges. There is a mandatory 1 week cool down period between challenges. If this is temple position specific, you need specify this in your challenge post.

If you are being challenged and are active, you have three days to reply. Failure to do so results in an automatic forfeit. If you are away, you are only protected for 3 weeks. If you have not returned in that time your herd and territory may be claimed and your position or title challenged for.

Pregnant mares cannot battle. If your character is challenged, the battle will be postponed until after the due-date of the foal. If you post a challenge and your character is pregnant, this will result in an automatic win for the character you are challenging.

When a prisoner is won through a challenge, unless stated in the terms of the battle, the prisoner will be kept for 2 weeks, posting at least 3 times in the kingdom they were won by. If the term limit is longer (1 month - 1 HP Year) the prisoner must post at least 5 times a month in that kingdom provided that you are not away. The kingdom will be held to the same activity standards as the prisoner.

Prison terms may not exceed 1 HP year (4 real life months).

Only Staff may determine the outcome of a fight. Any disputes can be taken up with the Owner.

A basic battle setup has been posted on the Ridges board. Please speak to the Owner if you have any questions.

Sparring

To spar post a spar challenge on the ridges board. Make sure to ensure your terms. Wait for someone to respond who may agree to your terms or offer a new set of terms.

There are no time limits for spars.

Spars, unlike challenges, do not have to be answered. You will face no penalty for letting a spar go unanswered.

Both the challenger and the challenged must agree to a wager for a spar. Only the winner collects the tokens wagered, the loser does not regain their wager.

Debates

The topic of a debate will decided by a staff member and each player will be given a side.

When the topic is posted, each player will have five days to post their essay.

No extensions will be granted on debates.

In a debate, your job is to explain your side of the debate in a logical, factual manner. Debates are not wars of opinions, nor are they arguing against your opponent and may not even fall within your personal beliefs.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please be sure to cite your sources though you may do so in any way you like.

Events

There will be at least 4 Events per HP year, posted at various times.

Events are co-operative, meaning that you will have to work with others in your faction to accomplish your goals.

Factions are allowed to decide if they will do a 'first come, first serve' or more of a round robin style in deciding who will participate in an Event.

Factions who complete an Event has to wait a minimum of five days when the next Event is posted to allow other factions a chance.

Completed Events may result in tokens, perks (like the ability to choose stats for your next foal), traits, or even temporary minor stones. However, only those that participated in the Event receive these perks.

Minor Gems earned from an Event only last for a duration of 2 months or half an HP year.

Wars, Raids, & Crusades

Bi-yearly Wars & Crusades will occur. Wars will gain participants tokens while Crusades will gain participants a special trait or item. Prizes given are determined by Staff.

Wars and Crusades are posted on The Ridges board. Raids will be posted in the kingdom that is being raided.

When a war is posted, anyone who wants to participate must post under the thread. After three days, Altus will pair up the fights and the war will commence in in a bracket fashion where winners progress to the next round.

Anyone can be a part of a Raid or a War, but only Guardians, Spirits, and Apprentices are permitted to attend a Crusade; and in a Crusade each character may only fight for one temple that they belong to.

Any Kingdom can raid another kingdom in a best of 5 battle. Terms of the raid must be set before the battles are fought and the warriors & defenders can be chosen from the kingdoms themselves as well as any other allies.

You have three days to respond between each post or you forfeit the fight.

Temples and Positions

All horses with levels 1 and 2 can challenge to become an Apprentice. If you issue a challenge for an apprentice position though you have different elements with levels 3 or higher, you may only use the element whose apprentice position you are challenging for. You may only hold an apprentice position as long as you are level 1 or 2 in that element. Once you reach level 3, you may challenge for a Spirit position though you lose your title of Apprentice.

All horses over level 3 of an element may challenge to become a Spirit of that element. All horses over level 4 of an element may challenge to become a Guardian of that element.

Guardians, Spirits, and Apprentice positions can only be challenged once every two weeks.

Guardians are granted traits by their gods. These traits are lost when the guardian positions are lost.

There is only one Guardian position, two Spirit positions, and one Apprentice position for each temple. Each character may only hold one Guardian position and one Spirit position OR two Spirit positions at a time. However, a character can only hold one Apprentice position at a time.